Please Please the Bees by Gerald Kelley

Storyline Online is a wonderful site that provides videos of actors reading children’s books aloud, accompanied by beautiful animations of the illustrations. Reading out loud to children has been proven to improve literacy, and this is a great new resource for parents, teachers, and children. Recently, Gerald Kelley‘s picture book Please Please the Bees was chosen for one of Storyline Online’s videos!

Please Please the Bees is the story of honey-loving bear, Benedict. When the bees that provide him with honey go on strike, he must learn to appreciate and help the hard loving workers in order to improve their lives and his own. Actress Rashida Jones, whom you may recognize from popular sitcom Parks and Recreation, was selected to read Please Please the Bees. She praised the story for its emphasis on community and cooperation.

The video reading can be found on Storyline’s website here. You can order Please Please the Bees online here.

Each year, the Neumann Institute for Franciscan Studies awards the Frances and Wesley Bock Award to a children’s book that they feel exemplifies Franciscan values. The children’s book must appeal to children’s sense of wonder, be aesthetically pleasing, and encourage reverence for nature and creation.

This year, the winner is Please Please the Bees, by Gerald Kelley. Please Please the Bees tells the story of a bear, Benedict, who loves honey. But when the bees who create his honey feel underappreciated, Benedict must learn to appreciate the bees just as much as their honey. Please Please the Bees is Gerald’s debut as an author.

Congratulations on winning this exciting award, Gerald!

More information about the Bock Award is available here. Please Please the Bees can be purchased online here.

As flowers bloom, it’s important to think about the little insects that help make it all possible. Bees are now an endangered species and need humans’ help! To help spread knowledge about bees, Publishers Weekly published a list of “Buzzworthy Books About Bees.” Included on this list is Gerald Kelley‘s new picture book, Please Please the Bees, the story of what happens to one honey loving bear when his local bees go on strike. Please Please the Bees is an adorable story with lots of great lessons on how to make bees thrive.

PW’s full list of recommended bee books is available here. Please Please the Bees can be purchased online here.

Kirkus recently shared “Getting Down to Earth,” a list of three recommended children’s books with strong environmental themes. Included on this list is Gerald Kelley‘s recently published Please Please the Bees. His authorial debut, Please Please the Bees is the story of a bear who loves honey…until the bees that make his honey go on strike!

Kirkus called Please “a delightful surprise,” and praised the book for combining pro-union messages with environmental themes. Kirkus recommends it to any teachers wanting to educate children on labor strikes or on the dangers currently facing honeybees. But Please Please the Bees should be an enjoyable picture book even to those not interested in those vital topics, because as Kirkus writes, “It’s funny and thought-provoking, and Kelley’s expressive paintings are sunny and warm.”

Kirkus’s “Getting Down to Earth” article is available here, and some awesome spreads from Please are linked here. You can purchase Please Please the Beeshere.

Please Please the Bees and Lucía the Luchadora Included in SLJ’s List of Recommended Small Presses

May 3, 2017

The larger publishing houses are well known, but don’t forget smaller publishers or indie presses! In order to help spread awareness of these small presses, the SLJ recently put out an article entitled “Celebrating Small Publishers: An Array of Remarkable 2017 Titles From the Smallest Houses.” Included on this list were two picture books by artists/authors represented by Painted Words!

Lucía the Luchadora, written by Cynthia Leonor Garza and illustrated by Alyssa Bermudez, tells the story of a young girl who finds the bravery to stand up to bullies when her grandmother shares a secret about their family history. As the SLJ wrote, “What’s not to love?” Purchase Lucía the Luchadora online here.

Please Please the Bees, Gerald Kelley‘s debut as an author, is the story of what happens when a group of bees stand up to the bear making huge demands on their honey production. The SLJ praised the bravery of the liberal, pro-union message of the story. You can purchase Please Please the Beeshere.

The SLJ’s full list of recommended presses and titles can be found here.

Kirkus Praises Gerald Kelley’s Please Please the Bees

March 7, 2017

Please Please the Bees, coming out in April of this year, is illustrator Gerald Kelley‘s debut as an author too! The humorous picture book tells the story of a bear who loves honey, but finds himself in a sticky situation when the honeybees that live in his yard go on strike. How can he please the bees?

Kirkus wrote a review of Please Please the Bees and had plenty of praise. They enjoyed the amusing illustrations, which they called, “A hoot.” They had great things to say about the text of the book, writing, “In his authorial debut, illustrator Kelley shows a knack for a wry turn of phrase, an effective economy with character development, and a good sense of textual pacing.”

You can read Kirkus’s full review here. Please Please the Bees can be pre-ordered online here.

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